The TSA has been responsible for over 9,000 unannounced “security checkpoints” over the last year alone, as the federal agency’s VIPR program expands to become a literal occupying army in the name of safety.

“The TSA’s 25 “viper” teams — for Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response — have run more than 9,300 unannounced checkpoints and other search operations in the last year. Department of Homeland Security officials have asked Congress for funding to add 12 more teams next year,” reports the L.A. Times.

The figure is completely independent from the federal agency’s role inside the nation’s airports, which costs taxpayers $5 billion a year, with the department having spent an additional $110 million in fiscal year 2011 for “surface transportation security,” while requesting a further $24 million for next year.

The extra money is being demanded despite the fact that there is “no proof that the roving viper teams have foiled any terrorist plots or thwarted any major threat to public safety,” according to the report, which also highlights how the TSA’s sniffer dogs are used to single out people for questioning if the dog smells the scent of the owner’s pets on their clothing.

The TSA is being used as a literal occupying army to ensure Americans who travel anywhere are constantly under the scrutiny of Big Brother, from highways, to train & bus stations, to NASCAR events, and even high school prom nights.

Back in October we reported on how Tennessee’s Homeland Security Commissioner announced that a raft of new “security checkpoints” would be in place over the Halloween period to “keep roadways safe for trick-or-treaters”.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

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Earlier that same month it was announced that Transportation Security Administration officials would be manning highway checkpoints in Tennessee targeting truck drivers.

In reality, the program was the latest phase of the TSA’s rapidly expanding VIPR program, under which TSA agents have been deployed to shake down Americans at everywhere from bus depots, to ferry terminals, to train stations, in one instance conducting pat downs of passengers, including children, who had already completed their journey when arriving in Savannah.

Free societies do not subject their citizens to random “security checkpoints” at which federal goons are given carte blanche to abuse the public.

2012 will see a renewal of our efforts to push for the total abolition of this disgraceful agency and the shame it has brought upon America’s reputation as the so-called leader of the free world.

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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.